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Russian oil giant gears up to win over City investors

THE Russian oil giant Rosneft will embark on a roadshow this week to convince investors to buy into its July flotation, after reaching agreement on a price range that would value the company at $60 billion-$80 billion (£33 billion-£44 billion).

Tomorrow Rosneft is set to unveil the price range and a prospectus for the float in Moscow and London. It wants to raise $10 billion from the listing, likely to be one of the most controversial ever in London. The state-owned oil company was built from the demise of Yukos, another Russian oil giant.

Some investors fear the valuation is too high given the legal risks facing the company over the way it acquired Yukos’s assets. Karina Litvack at the fund manager F&C said: “The valuation appears to disregard the legal risk.”

The market-valuation target, based on demand gauged during meetings with investors, was set in Russia late on Friday